Republican Montana state auditor Matt Rosendale and Democratic former state Rep. Kathleen Williams are running for Montana’s at-large House seat again.
The also-ran candidates have exchanged the polling lead since March; their open race rated as a lean GOP contest by the Cook Political Report. And they’re close in the money stakes too. Williams raised $2.4 million by June’s end to Rosendale’s $1.8 million.
Rosendale, 60, is an ex-Montana state senator and majority leader who launched his first bid for the at-large House seat in 2014 but failed to secure the Republican nomination against now-ousted Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke. The Trump ally, who was once a realtor, also lost his challenge of incumbent Democratic Sen. Jon Tester in 2018 by 3.5 percentage points.
Williams, 59, is a gun owner and shooting sportswoman, who tells voters she once supported Ronald Reagan. She worked on natural resource policy and planning in the private, public, and government sectors before she was elected to Montana’s statehouse. Williams first ran for the House seat last cycle, but she was beaten by GOP Rep. Greg Gianforte by 4.7 points. She did, however, earn the largest vote share of any Democrat since 2000.
Two years later, Williams is focusing on healthcare, the economy, climate change, and Montana’s public lands. Rosendale is similarly emphasizing healthcare, the economy, and public lands, but he has weaved border security and veterans issues into his stump speech as well. He’s also vowing to overturn Obamacare while touting his economic plan of cutting taxes, regulation, and government spending.
Despite Montana helping Trump clinch the White House in 2016 by backing him by more than 20 points over then-rival Hillary Clinton, Democrats perform well statewide. History, though, is against Williams. The last Democrat to hold the House seat was Pat Williams, who retired in 1997.
Gianforte is vacating the seat to vie for the governorship.
